Railway-rails



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HaL. B-EfACH, OF MONTROSE, PENNSYLVANIA. Lette/rs Patent No. 86,897, dated Februa/ry 16, 1869. c

CHAIR FOR COUPLING- RAILWAY-RAILS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making pari: of the lam.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the same, the sections of rails to be coupled being shown separated from each other.

Figure 3 is a modification of the present invention. In the drawings, like' parts of the invention are designated by the same letters -of reference.

The nature of'. the present invention consists in a vnew and improved mode of' holding rigidly, or nearly so, the two ends of' adjoining railroad-rails, with their top or upper surfaces parallel with eachother, sothat the end of one rail cannot be depressed (as the train passes over it) below its neighbor or adjoining rail, thus lessening the tractive force required for propel-h ling' cars, and preventing the constant hammering and battering of the ends of railroad-rails by the wheels of railroad-trains, when passing over them, provision being made, at the same time, for the necessary eX-v pansion and vcontraction of the rails, caused by heat and cold. l n

To enable those skilled in the arts to make and use my invention, I will describe the construction and operation of the same. i

A shows two chairs or clamps, which are generally made of once piece of metal, which chairs receive the secticns of rail to be coupled. v

These chairs are provived with the projecting cheeks a, beneath which the sections of rail are passed, so that the cheeks a, have a bearing upon the lower portion of the sections of rail.

Directly beneath the sections B of rail, when placed within the chairs or clamps A, I place a secondary or auxiliary rail, G, which, in the' present instance, is made up of two sections, one of which is grooved longitudinally upon its side, while the other section is provided with a tongue tting snugly into the groove upon the other section..

These sections, constituting the secondaryor aux-` iliary rail, are held in position, within the chairs or clamps A, by means of wedges I), or by anyzmecha'nical equivalent.

The sections O are tongued and grooved, that the sections of rail B, supported and coupled by the means rjust described, may be -free to expand and contract,

as the changes of the temperaturemay demand.

Such being theconstruction, the operation is as follows:

The sections of rail B having been secured within the chairs or clamps, as shown, and the sections of the auxiliary or secondaryrail having been also'secured within these chairs or clamps A, the sections of rail may be brought into contact with each other, the projecting end of one section of the auxiliary or secondary rail entering within the chair in which the'opposite section is secured, and vice versa, the chairs or clamps occupying a position between the railroad-ties, which serves to steady and hold thel same in place.

lt will be seen that vwhen thus coupled, it will be rendered almost impossible for the end of any one rail to be depressed' below the end of the adjoining rail, and that the depression caused by the passage of a train of' cars over the rails -thus coupled, must affect both rails equally, or cause both to be depressed alike.

The saving alone, in the wear or tear of railroadrails, 'by the use of' my mode of coupling, will be found very great, while the power to propel heavy trains will be diminished, and the jarring motion and accidents,

now of frequent-occurrence, from battered rails, will be avoided. l

Vaiious modifications of my invention may be enumerated. In fig. 3, the wedges-D are driven directly between thecheek's of the chair or clamp and the rail. 'Ihe sections of the auxiliary rail may be extensions of the chairs o r clamps; or, instead of being made in sections, this rail may be of' one entire piece, in which case a broad key may be driven between the rail and the point of junction of the rails; or a plate may be placed between the rail and the sections of rail to be coupled, and a key orkeys may be driven between the' rail and the-rails, or the secondary rail, or sections of the sama-maybe .made wedge-shaped and self-tightening.

Having thus described vmy invention, What is claimed as new, is The combination, with the rails B, of the chairs or 'clamps A, and auxiliary or secondary rail O, when the same shall be constructed` and combined substantially 4as and for the purposes fully explained.

. H. L. REACH.

Witnesses:

A. SIDNEY DoANn, .H.W. Henner. 

